Mirella Stays
Designing brand identity and digital experience for a beautiful boutique hotel.
The company will be into leasing and building properties in mountains and converting them into premium stays with different themes. This is their first property which is being done in Bohemian style.
The objective is to create a brand identity that can be used extensively across the website, social media, and other platforms. This includes developing a logo and typography that can represent the brand.
The challenging part is determining which colors, functions, and features end users will want when they are browsing. This includes making reservations for the room, food, the party, and other activities to participate in close proximity to the location.
Figma
Illustrator
Zeplin
Photoshop
User Interface Design
Branding
User Research
Information Architecture
Self Directed
Business Stakeholders
4 Weeks
The company will be leasing and building properties in the mountains and converting them into excellent stays with different themes. This is our first property which is being done in Bohemian style. It matters because we want to give people that feeling of home away from home. A warm fuzzy feeling that tells them that they are home. There are not many stays in the places we strategically choose to open which offer the kind of premium segment stays we will offer. The underlying idea of our love for food, hosting, and music will be brought to the forefront with the setting up of these properties. We plan to bring the underground indie music scene to the mountains by hosting events. To give people a place where they can come and relax and discover nature from their busy city lives is also why we want to open these stays.
Mirella is an Italian name associated with everything beautiful, wonderful, and peaceful, worthy of admiration. This is how we see each and every property coming to life; it’s every corner built with love and passion and which gives people a feeling of happiness to be in that space which will be perfectly encapsulated by the word Mirella, a beautiful space to be in the mountains.
Integrity, a belief that empathy is the way forward for humanity, honesty, commitment to providing value to customers, and being passionate about whatever projects will be taken up, are some of the values that the company holds in the highest regards.
We feel it needs to exist because, with this company, our aim is to instill confidence and trust in the customers that they can also trust our brand when it comes to premium stay and good food in the mountains. Through this company, we want to set standards for a place which is an overlap of premium segments (which usually lack a soul) and soulful places (which typically lack a system) and strike a perfect balance between a premium segmented and soulful place, which is often very hard and challenging but if done in a right manner can be one of a kind experience.
SWOT Analysis
Swot analysis helped to go through and understand all aspects of the project from a business point of view as well as a customer point of view.
Below are details of my findings
Mirella stays the only place that offers a kind of premium boutique homestay segment within 100 miles.
Lies about 5,200 feet (1,584 m) above sea level, and there are very few residential houses above Mirella.
Planning to bring the underground indie music scene to the mountains by hosting events.
Pet-friendly stays
Located in Himachal Pradesh, and Himachal is one of the most visited places for tourists.
In India, the tourism sector is expected to increase at a 6.9% annual pace to 32.05 lakh crore (US$450 billion) by 2028 (9.9% of GDP).
Planning to recruit local people to refer Mirella is the best place to stay nearby.
Still trying to figure out other network services over the mountains.
Dependent only on three user groups and invested a lot to set up stays over the mountains. (Tourists, Hippies, & Government Officials)
Doesn't provide activities and entertainment such as fishing, hiking, yoga, and cycling as its competitor do.
Still trying to include multiple cuisines for its customers.
Localities provide accommodations in their homes for tourists.
Local police allow people from the village to guide tourists.
Sometimes, the place may have to face extreme weather conditions such as snowfall and rain.
User Personas
I was able to understand my users, needs, pain points, experiences, behaviors, and goals by creating personas. These are entirely made-up characters and assisted me in stepping out as a designer and putting myself in the shoes of a user group.
Below are details of my findings
Danny Doe
Occupation: Vlogger
Location: Delhi, India
Age: 26
Status: Single, Unmarried
Education: Graduate
Language: English, Hindi
Income: ~9.0 L.A - INR
Danny is a traveler and depends on his vlogs to earn money. He posts videos about his experiences on youtube to generate income. After completing his graduation, he found he has a keen interest in traveling and cultural dimensions worldwide. He found friends within the same interest and spends months traveling from one place to another. However, he prefers to go places that are high from sea level. He owns a youtube channel, website and has some digital presence as a hippie.
Post more videos about people, places, and experiences he met when he was traveling.
Show the world about the cultures, traditions, languages from different places.
He always looks for a pleasant place to take a break that has a home kind of feeling with others who are just like him.
Make connections, socialize with others, and know what other's experiences are.
He couldn't find a proper bed and food to relax when he was too tired of traveling.
He Cannot rely on complete strangers because they might be dangerous.
He is potential enough to spend but cannot find proper accommodations within the radius he wants.
Peter More
Occupation: Forest Department Official
Location: Punjab, India
Age: 52
Status: Married
Education: PHD Agriculture
Language: English, Hindi, Punjabi, French
Income: ~24.0 L.A - INR
Peter more did Ph.D. in agriculture and working as a region forest department head for the past 22 Years. His work is to travel all the small villages and towns that are located in the forest region along with his team of 6 members. Sometimes, he travels with his family to places that are clean and hygienic. He has eight more years to retire from that position; within this timeline, his job is to teach and train the younger generation about how everything works in the forest.
Make sure that no illegal activities are happening in the forest.
He helps people lost in the forest and takes care of animals, trees, and other relevant things.
He likes to spend time with his family when he works in a good hill station.
Sometimes, he and his team need to spend weeks in the same location for work purposes.
He has trouble finding accommodation when he is on his duty.
He hardly finds a good place to stay at hill stations when he comes with his family.
Sometimes, He cannot find a place for all the team members at the exact location.
He always looks for a place that feels like home when it is a long camp.
Kevin Curt
Occupation: Software Engineer
Location: Banglore, India
Age: 28
Status: Single, Unmarried
Education: Master, Computer Science
Language: English, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam
Income: ~19.0 L.A - INR
Kevin is a software engineer who works for one of the fortune 50 companies in Banglore. After completing his under graduation in computer science, he immediately joined master's in the same field. His interest in futuristic technology and research helped him get a job in a company with an impeccable salary offer. However, he often feels like there is so much world out there to explore and wants to travel some part of India before he gets engaged.
He wants to spend some time for himself and explore as much as possible before getting engaged.
He wants to hike and meet new people from different places.
He always looks for a pleasant place to take a break that has a home kind of feeling and spend some time utilizing working from home.
Attend Indie music events, make connections, socialize with others, and know what other's experiences are.
There are too many places that look like motels and tents, but he is looking for a stay for one long month that gives the home feeling.
He wasn't so sure when to return to the offices.
He wants to eat healthy and hygienic food during the holiday.
Sitemap
The sitemap for Mirella is minimalistic and straightforward, considering the user group. It provides clients and other stakeholders with an overview of the website and how the material will go together within a single data flow diagram. I've included only five categories, "wrt Miller's theory," in the navigation bar to make it simple for the user to select and remember. I've also added two social media icons that will redirect the user to the respective platform to see their activity. I believe adding the navigation links in the footer will help in increasing the usability of the website. It's because whenever a user scrolls down the website and couldn't find what they are looking for, they may end up with a bad user experience and may also look for another website with the same service. Keeping navigation links at the ending of the page might help the user to see and select the desired page link.
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Keywords & Brand Statement
I've conducted a discovery session with the client (ideal) to understand the keywords to describe Mirella. After that, I used these keywords to identify the brand statement.
Here, I asked my client to trim keywords in three different stages for each attribute.
Below are details of my findings
Keywords
Mirella provides hospitality services to nature lovers in a caring environment with an experienced voice. Helping them feel homely and stressless.
Moodboard
Before I start designing for the brand, I'm trying to establish a look and feel with colors, fonts, images, and photos. I believe that creating mood boards first allows us to experiment with design components more than getting right into the design. It allows us to understand market and identify which styles are appropriate for this specific industry. Two user groups expect to feel nature and stay away from their routine day-to-day life in cities. In the above moodboard, I've included images that are more likely to visualize the surroundings of Mirella. They are a combination of mountains, trees, snow, sky clouds, lake, stars, and the ideal interior of the place. I've also included an image with a typography image that portrays the text style, which will aid in this design style. Having a moodboard like this will help Mirella to create the essence of nature, adventure, and a cozy home feeling. The moodboad provides green, blues, and browns with subtle vibrance. Overall, I believe it is easier for the client to visualize the brand's styles and how each designed aspect might elicit different feelings.
Logo Sketches
I've designed three versions of low-fidelity logo designs for Mirella. I strived to replicate the niche in each concept. The designs are drawn journal notebook using sketch pens. In every logo design concept, I tried to show some elements that will help the viewers identify it as a stay or motel.
After getting feedback from the client, my peers, and our professor, I created two medium-fidelity logos from the concepts. The concept of the logo includes a pine tree, mountains, sun, and an entrance. The colors and typefaces used that are extracted from the mood board.
I've designed three versions of low-fidelity logo designs for Mirella. I strived to replicate the niche in each concept. The designs are drawn journal notebook using sketch pens. In every logo design concept, I tried to show some elements that will help the viewers identify it as a stay or motel.
Low-Fidelity Wireframes
Medium-Fidelity Wireframes -Landing Page
Every good app or website starts with a solid foundation, and wireframes are one of the most important things to consider for laying that foundation. The below wireframes define the website's structure and helped me understand the functionality of features, navigation, user flow, task flow, and hierarchy of the information. This exercise helped me to iterate the wireframe to reach user needs, goals, and pain points.
Landing Page
High- Fidelity Wireframes
The website's redesign is presented by the high-fidelity wireframes below. The website contains five pages to keep the design concise and minimal. The navigation bar consists of four items-Accommodations, Experiences, Contact, and Book Now. All five pages (Landing page, Accommodations, Experiences, Contact, and Book Now) have access to the navigation bar and the footer section to ease the user.
The Landing page consists of all the main elements the user anticipates from the website like the "Book Now" link, the type of accommodations, various experiences, F.A.Q.s, client testimonials, and contact information. The other pages provide in-depth information on each of these pages.
The Accommodations page displays the types of rooms that are provided by Mirella stays, the features of the rooms and the action link "Book Now" along with the price details. This page also displays a form for the users to request a customized stay using the action link "Get Customized."
The Experiences page displays numerous types of experiences for the users near and around the Mirella stays. The experiences are divided into four categories- Nature walks, Sports and Adventure, Food Specialties and Entertainment. All the activities provide information like details, whereabouts of the place and the itinerary details.
The Contacts page shows a section providing brief information about Mirella Stays. This page also presents a map with the itinerary details on how to reach the Mirella stays. The page also has a form that the users can use to get in touch with the Mirella. There is also a Frequently asked question section for the users.
Book now is a pop-up interaction page. Besides the traditional way of keeping all the information generic on the page itself, Pop-up interaction provides a booking-only interface and nothing else. This works great for users who have mobiles and tablets as devices when booking. The page has a form with data required for the reservation like name, email, check-in and check-out dates, and the number of people.
Conclusion
The overall design process helped me understand all different aspects to consider when it comes to design for branding and digital presence. With the final high fidelity wireframes, I believe that I met all the user goals, need, and pain points that are outlined at the very beginning of the design process. i.e., SWOT analysis and Personas. If I had more time, I would have dived deep and created an entire responsive website, information visualization, user testing, task flows, user flows, and usability testing. I would also have some features that would give Mirella more personality and boost its competitiveness.